Structural Models of Abilities Measured by the Ball Aptitude Battery

Abstract

The authors investigated the constructs underlying the Ball Aptitude Battery (BAB) in four studies. In Studies 1 through 3, a confirmatory factor-analytic approach was used to jointly analyze the BAB and three additional ability batteries, that is, the Comprehensive Ability Battery, the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), and the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB). In Study 4, the BAB data reported by Neuman, Bolin, and Briggs were reanalyzed. For each data set, the authors tested the fit of a nested hierarchical model. Goodness-of-fit indices suggested that the factor models were a good fit of the data for each sample. The factor structure remained largely consistent across samples, with differences primarily reflecting the composition of the particular ability subtests. Overall, g plays a significant but not dominant role in the BAB, which measures abilities needed for assessing person-job fit that are not measured by the ASVAB or GATB.